Lake Ozark Board of Aldermen approves youth curfew
LAKE OZARK, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Lake Ozark Board of Aldermen on Tuesday unanimously approved a youth curfew, prohibiting anyone younger than 18 from being on the Bagnell Dam Strip after 11 p.m. without a guardian.
The ordinance will stretch from the Lake Ozark Christian Church to the Bagnell Dam Strip and last from 11 p.m.-5 a.m.
The vote was delayed at the board's June 28 meeting. The vote was pushed back after a proposal to change the curfew start time from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. There was also discussion about businesses with employees under 18 and protecting minors who work in restaurants on the Bagnell Dam Strip from penalties after curfew starts. These propositions caused a delay in the vote, and the aldermen will now vote to either approve or deny the ordinance.
The board approved the change in start time and included exceptions for minors, allowing them to be in the strip for legitimate reasons, such as work.
Aldermen said the reason for the ordinance was due to "the City [seeing] an increase in disorderly conduct, disturbances to the peace, minors engaged in illicit drug and alcohol usage, and other delinquency issues during evening and early morning hours in the City's Central Business District," according to the city's ordinance.
The purpose is to curb the issues the city says are rising with unaccompanied minors out after certain hours.
Lake Ozark Police Chief Jason Boren said the ordinance is meant to protect minors late at night when the area transitions into an adult entertainment area.
“We've seen many times where you have a juvenile, 16 or 17, maybe even 15, that's down there," Boren said. "And maybe they don't have the maturity to just not say something to a drunk adult and some sort of altercation, even if it's just verbal or sometimes it is a physical altercation.”
Boren added a youth curfew is common among other popular tourist spots, and it is not meant to add strict rules for youth, but instead to ensure their safety and prevent potential violence with intoxicated adults.
"And this is not something that is uncommon," Boren said. "You can go all over the country to vacation areas like Lake of the Ozarks, and you see this very same thing in place on a large scale in many, many other areas. And I think it's a common-sense approach.
Under the new ordinance, a first offense results in a warning and subsequent offenses carry a fine of $500.
Lake Ozark Mayor David Ridgely said because of the concerns from business owners, the city will be monitoring the curfew's impact on local businesses.
"If this ordinance is affecting business and not helping the problem, then we'll make some changes," Ridgely said.
